Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Watson, Charles Moore
WATSON, Sir CHARLES MOORE (1844–1916), soldier and administrator, the second son of William Watson, J.P., of Dublin, by his wife, Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Moore Morgan, rector of Dunlavin, co. Wicklow, was born in Dublin 10 July 1844. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, whence he passed, as a lieutenant, into the Royal Engineers in 1866. In 1874–1875 he served in the Sudan under General Gordon, and was engaged on the survey of the White Nile. He subsequently filled an appointment at the War Office until 1878, when he was made a captain and aide-de-camp to Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmons [q.v.]. In 1880 he commenced two years' duty in the India Office, receiving in 1882 the brevet rank of major. In the latter year Watson was selected for special duty in the Egyptian campaign. It was he who, at the head of a small force, led the advance on Cairo after the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, and received the surrender of the citadel (14 September 1882). He continued to serve in the Egyptian army until 1886, when he became governor-general of the Red Sea littoral. In 1891 he was appointed assistant inspector-general of fortifications; he was promoted lieutenant-colonel in the following year, and in 1896 became deputy inspector-general of fortifications, a position which he held, with the rank of colonel, till his retirement in 1902. He carried out the arduous duties of these posts with the care, foresight, and technical skill which had already earned him a high reputation. His long experience and outstanding success undoubtedly influenced his selection in 1904 as secretary to the royal commission for the organization of the British section of the St. Louis Exhibition and commissioner-general. Two years prior to this appointment he was chosen to be the British delegate to the International Navigation Congress at Düsseldorf, and in the same capacity visited Milan in 1905 and St. Petersburg in 1908. He was chairman of the Palestine Exploration Fund committee from 1905 until his death, which took place in London 15 March 1916. He married in 1880 Geneviève, daughter of the Rev. Russell Cook. In his later years Colonel Watson turned to account a decided literary gift, publishing in 1909 a Life of Major-General Sir Charles William Wilson, and in 1910 a very useful work on British Weights and Measures. In 1912 he published The Story of Jerusalem, and three years later Fifty Years' Work in the Holy Land. He received the C.M.G. in 1887, and the C.B. in 1902, and in 1905 was created K.C.M.G.
[The Times, 16 March 1916; Journal of the Royal Engineers, June 1916.]